The Home Page Network

Happy Valentine’s Day from all of us here at The Home Page Network. Valentine’s Day, also called Saint Valentine’s Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine,[1] is celebrated annually on February 14. Originating as a western Christian feast day honoring one or more early saints named Valentinus. These believers showed God’s love to others in a sacrificial way which gave them their place in history. Love never fails. 1 Corinthians 13:8

On this special Movin’ Together Valentine’s Day broadcast I am joined by my daughters, Johanna and Julianna. This program is a flashback to four years ago when I fell ill with the flu and asked them to anchor the Valentine’s Day program for me. At twelve years old (Johanna) and four years old (Julianna) bravely said yes they would try it! They both did an excellent job! Johanna now regularly anchors and corresponds for Home Page, and Julianna just did her first solo broadcast recently. One of my greatest joys of parenting is journeying with my children as they navigate through life.

I became a mom again, later in life, through the blessing of adoption which was an unexpected gift from God. I love being a mom! But like all women, I needed the strength to do the work of mothering. It became quite evident that some of my habits had to change. It was imperative that I became healthier so I could enjoy this new and exciting adventure. Relying on what I knew from my fitness and medical background I started to regain some sense of wellness by putting healthy habits into practice. I planned to share these lifestyle changes hoping to encourage other women to move forward toward better health. That is when the idea for the Movin’ Together Healthy Tools concept came to be! If we just added one tool a month, then the challenge to change may not seem overwhelming. And of course, bringing along a friend is always helpful for a successful change.

During February to help our physical heart on Valentine’s Day we are adding the tool of hydration. A hydrated heart can pump blood more efficiently, promoting a healthy heart. Studies have shown that many strokes and heart attacks occur in the morning so hydrating from morning to night is highly recommended. Suggestions to help us hydrate are to start our day by drinking two 8 ounce glasses of water and then one 8-ounce glass before going to bed at night. Drink two, 8-ounce glasses about a half hour before each meal. You might also try keeping a pitcher of water on your kitchen counter containing your recommended daily intake of water to remind you to hydrate. How much water do we need to drink in a day? One of the simple formulas for determining the general amount is to take your weight and divide it by two and drink that amount in ounces each day.

Some of the other benefits of hydrating include:
Reducing your risk of cancer
Improving your mood
Promoting weight loss
Flushing toxins
Hydrating the skin
Slowing the aging process
Increasing your energy
Boosting your metabolism
Strengthening your immune system
Helping joints
Relieving aches and pains
Promoting regularity
Aiding indigestion
Assisting in fighting infection
Maintaining pH balance
Building and repairing muscle
Keeping your brain healthy
Relieving fatigue
Moistening oxygen intake – making it easier to breathe

Do you need encouragement to hydrate? Well, there’s an app for that. It seems the one I am using this year is an app with an attitude. A regular reminder says things like, “Hi Sara Just do it!” “Drink Some Water.” “I assure you your health is getting better.” Recently I thought that maybe I did not need the reminder notifications, so I turned them off. When I did, I received this message from my app. “I guess that you are now confident of drinking water on time and don’t need this reminder anymore. However, we recommend you keep it on with a reduced interval. If you are stopping this reminder just because it’s irritating, then let me tell you, illness is way more irritating. You can start again.” I thought about it for a minute and restarted it because I want help to stay on track! So I restarted it!

If you are interested in using an app to encourage your hydration, many are free or require a nominal fee. iDrated, for example, is a free app that will monitor how hydrated you are at any given moment, keep track of the last time you had a drink of water, and tell you when you are due to drink again. Daily Water is a free app that helps individuals set drinking water goals, provides reminders and offers a fundamental statistical analysis of water consumption over the course of a day, week or month. Waterlogged is another free app that makes it nearly impossible for you to forget to drink enough water and allows you to set scheduled or random reminders, tracks your success at reaching goals, and is customizable. Eight Glasses a Day ($0.99), offers a simplified way to keep track of how many glasses of water you are drinking in the form of a challenge, which may appeal to some people.

When starting the habit of hydration, it can become a beneficial pattern that affects the rest of our lives, especially helpful as we get older. If you struggle with taking the time to hydrate, this is an excellent opportunity to connect with a friend so you can support one another to start this life-changing habit! Pursue it with intention and joy!

To celebrate Valentine’s Day and encourage you to use the hydration tool we are giving away a gift to help you to stay on target. We are offering you an opportunity to win a Valentine’s Day Hydration Gift. Just be the first one to email me with the answer to this question. Name one benefit in hydrating?

My e-mail address is sara@thehomepagenetwork.com.